An information record may be, for example, a record blank in which information may be recorded, an optical video disc where information is recorded by ablation of a coating thereon or by embossing a relief pattern into the disc surface or it may be a capacitance type video disc wherein variations in capacitance between an electrode incorporated in a groove riding stylus and a conductive property of the disc are sensed to reproduce the stored information. A capacitance type video disc system has been disclosed by Clemens, U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,194 issued Oct. 15, 1974. An optical video disc system has been disclosed by Spong in U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,895 issued June 27, 1978.
For such information records, it is often beneficial to enclose the information record in a protective caddy to provide a dust free environment for the record and to deter indiscriminate access to the record. Coleman et al have disclosed a protective caddy and video disc record combination in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 98,412 filed Nov. 28, 1979. In the Coleman system the user does not remove, or is at least discouraged from removing, the information record from the caddy. Information with respect to program material on one side of the disc vis-a-vis the other side is generally printed on the outside surfaces of the caddy and the information record is not in general removed from the caddy by the user outside of the information record playing apparatus. Since the user does not remove the information record from the caddy there is no need to provide a user readable label on the information record. However, it is desirable to encode the information record so that the information record and caddy may be matched during the manufacturing process without playback of the information record to determine the information stored thereon.
One of the primary purposes of the protective caddy is to provide a clean environment for the information record stored therein. Thus, it is not desirable to use a label of some foreign material such as paper or paint which may flake off inside the protective caddy thereby producing debris on the surface of the information record.
Roach in an application entitled "Grooved Label For Video Disc," Ser. No. 142,852, filed Apr. 21, 1980, and incorporated herein by reference, has disclosed a label for video disc records wherein a surface of the disc is provided with a surface affect which is readable by optical means and which is stamped into the disc surface during the stamping operation, thus eliminating any additional manufacturing steps or cost for labeling the record.